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Editorial

I need maths like a carburettor recalibration The 118 188 challenge
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Searching for answers

The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines' flight MH370 was dramatically narrowed last week due to a mathematical analysis of satellite signals from the plane. Careful analysis of just a handful of data points has focussed the search on an area in the southern Indian Ocean.
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Explore: Differential equations

One thing that will never change is the fact that the world is constantly changing, and differential equations are the way we mathematically describe the changing world around us.
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Sexual statistics

David Spiegelhalter's new book Sex by numbers takes a statistical peek into the nation's bedrooms. In this interview he tells us some of his favourite stories from the book. Read the article or watch the video!
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Helping maths to help us

The mathematics of the future needs more specialist maths teachers, stronger university provision, and sustained research funding.
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Do you know what's good for you: the next microscope

"Mathematics is biology's next microscope, only better." That's what the scientist Joel E Cohen once said of the power of mathematics to revolutionise biology and the biomedical sciences. And he was right. Maths enables scientists to understand complex organisms and diseases, it's crucial in developing sophisticated medical technology and materials, and we can even use it to model our psyche and intelligence. In this sense maths has become a genuine research instrument for biomedical sciences. The insight it gives them are on a par with the revolutionising power of the microscope.

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Running a lottery, for beginners

There are many different types of lottery around the world, but they all share a common aim: to make money. John Haigh explains why lotteries are the way they are.
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Body count

A statistical study into Iraq war deaths sparks controversy